For
a couple of decades there has been a big push by numerous evangelical
leaders to incorporate pagan practices into the visible Church. These
unbiblical practices have their origins in Eastern religions such as
Hinduism and Buddhism, likewise the New Age movement. Roman Catholic
Trappist Monks fully embraced Eastern religion’s pagan practices.
Through the writings of Thomas Merton, Basil Pennington, William Menninger
and Thomas Keating these practices have been introduced into mainline
Protestant churches as well as independent, nondenominational, charismatic
and Pentecostal churches.

Those
who wish to develop a more meaningful prayer life are urged by popular
evangelicals such as Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Rick Warren, John
Ortberg, Ruth Haley Barton and Tony Campolo, just to name a few, to
undertake a mystical prayer practice called The Silence.

How
does one achieve The Silence? By practicing eastern-style mantra meditation
aka Transcendental Meditation (TM).

What
is the goal of TM? To gain “ultimate knowledge of God by a direct
experience that bypasses the mind.”

What
must one do to attain this sort of mind-altering experience? Settle
into a quiet comfortable place and with eyes closed repeat a word or
phrase from Scripture over and over until the thinking process shuts
down to the point of silence…..and, low and behold, the practitioner
will allegedly have an encounter with God in the spirit realm.

Our
final goal is 'union with God,' which is a pure relationship where we
see 'nothing.’ (Source)

Wow.
Sounds a bit New
Age, doesn’t it? No doubt about it! And because it is New
Age, why, pray tell, do shepherds of the flock not have a problem pushing
this sort of practice on their sheep?

Undoubtedly
many Christians have never heard of The Silence. Be that as it may,
terms such as Contemplative prayer; centering prayer; lectio divina;
Divine presence; sacred word; transformation/transforming union; listening
prayer; soaking prayer; and breath prayer may ring a bell. But it matters
not what term we use; what matters is that to pray The Silence is unbiblical.

Former
New Ager Marcia Montenegro wrote an in depth essay on Contemplative
Prayer (CP) entitled “Contemplating Contemplative Prayer:
Is It Really Prayer?” Marcia warns us that,

The
influence of Buddhism and Hinduism on Contemplative Prayer … is
apparent. Words such as "detachment," "transformation,"
"emptiness," "enlightenment" and "awakening"
swim in and out of the waters of these books. The use of such terms
certainly mandates a closer inspection of what is being taught, despite
the fact that contemplative prayer is presented as Christian practice.

Themes
that one finds echoed in the CP movement include the notions that true
prayer is: silent, beyond words, beyond thought, does away with the
"false self," triggers transformation of consciousness, and
is an awakening. Suggested techniques often include breathing exercises,
visualization, repetition of a word or phrase, and detachment from thinking.
(Source)

Evangelical
pastor Gary Gilley also tells us what to watch out for:

[C]ontemplative
prayer is not the same as prayer defined biblically; “sacred reading”
(also called lectio divina) of Scripture is not the same as Bible study;
meditation (mystically encountering God) is not the same as knowing
God and so forth. Many of the same terms are used, but as the classical
liberals, and the more recent emergents, are fond of doing, they take
our terms, including biblical ones, and give them new definitions and
twists. (Source)

Spiritual
Disciplines

Paul
wrote, “Train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). This
sort of training promotes Christlikeness. The ESV translates “train”
as “discipline.” To “train yourself for godliness”
means a call to holy living. It also means hard work. According to the
John MacArthur Study Bible study notes, “train” is an athletic
term “denoting the rigorous, self-sacrificing exercise an athlete
undergoes. Spiritual self-discipline is the path to godly living.”
Training such as this has been termed “spiritual exercises”
or “spiritual disciplines.” As a result of “spiritual
disciplines” many Christians now practice Contemplative Prayer.
Many CP practitioners believe that they’re receiving direct revelations
from God. “From years of studying mystics of all stripes,”
says Ken Silva, “I can tell you their perceived revelations then
trump the texts of Holy Scripture for them. In other words, rather than
testing these experiences by God’s Word, now these (CP) practitioners
… are instead using their feelings to interpret the Bible through
what they think God is saying. I’m telling you, the tragic fact
is, the mainstream of professing Christendom is rapidly devolving into
all kinds of silly superstitions.” (Source)

Nowadays
spiritual disciplines may include Bible reading, meditation, worship,
giving away money, fasting, solitude, fellowship, deeds of service,
evangelism, almsgiving, creation care, journaling, missionary work,
and more. It may include vows of celibacy, self-flagellation, and chanting
mantras. In popular usage, some of these so-called spiritual disciplines
are entirely divorced from any specific doctrine whatsoever, Christian
or otherwise: they are merely a matter of technique. That is why people
sometimes say, "For your doctrine, by all means commit yourselves
to evangelical confessionalism. But when it comes to the spiritual disciplines,
turn to Catholicism or perhaps Buddhism." What is universally presupposed
by the expression "spiritual discipline" is that such disciplines
are intended to increase our spirituality. From a Christian
perspective, however, it is simply not possible to increase one's spirituality
without possessing the Holy Spirit and submitting to his transforming
instruction and power. Techniques are never neutral. They are
invariably loaded with theological presuppositions, often unrecognized.
(emphasis added) (Source)

As
I said above, many Christians feel like something is missing from their
prayer life and they long to “connect with God” in a more
meaningful way. So they’ll do just about anything to "cultivate
intimacy with God," including unbiblical meditation. The irony
is that they’ll attempt to defend an unbiblical practice by quoting
Scripture. Take for example Joshua 1:8:

This
book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success.

Some
Christians will argue that Joshua 1:8 shows that God approves of this
mind emptying type of meditation. Wrong! The text is instructing us
to meditate on God’s Word, not to empty our minds.

I’ll
explain biblical mediation in a moment. But first let’s look at
how Webster's defines meditation:

The
words Ponder, Meditate, Muse, and Ruminate are synonyms and mean to
consider or examine attentively or deliberately. PONDER implies a careful
weighing of a problem or, often, prolonged inconclusive thinking about
a matter; MEDITATE implies a definite focusing of one's thoughts on
something as to understand it deeply; muse suggests a more or less focused
daydreaming as in remembrance; RUMINATE implies going over the same
matter in one's thoughts again and again but suggests little of either
purposive thinking or rapt absorption.

Now
let’s look at Psalm 119 to see what the Bible teaches on meditation:

I
will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. (119:15).

Princes
also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy
statutes. (119:23)

Make
me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous
works. (119:27)

My
hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved;
and I will meditate in thy statutes. (119:48)

See
also: 119:78, 119:97, 119:99,119:148.

The
Apostle Paul says the following:

Consider
what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. (2Tim
2:7)

Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think [mediated] on these things. (Phil
4:8)

Could
the Almighty have made the meaning of meditation any clearer? God has
also made it abundantly clear that He forbids His people to indulge
in any form of pagan idolatry. So practicing mystical mantra meditation
is going against God! This alone should be enough to scare individuals
away from this type of approach to prayer.

When
it comes to pagan practices God leaves no room for doubt: Do it and
die spiritually…even physically, as in King Saul’s case.

Yoga
Meditation

Over
the years I have dealt with “Christian
yoga” in several of my columns. So I’ll briefly touch
on it here for the simple reason that a large number of Christ followers
have wholeheartedly embraced the Buddhist practice of yoga. Even churches
offer yoga classes with a Christian spin on it! Not surprisingly, enterprising
Christians head up successful yoga businesses such as “Holy Yoga,”
“PraiseMoves and “Yahweh Yoga” (YY) just to name a
few. YY’s website promises to “increase the kingdom of Jesus
Christ by establishing, providing and maintaining a Christian yoga studio
and teaching academy that honors God in all business and ministry endeavors.
Yahweh Yoga seeks to…empower men and women to de-stress, to grow
in their relationship with Jesus Christ and to improve their mind, body
and spirit…”

It’s
not a stretch to say that the language used to promote YY comes right
out of the New Age handbook.

Here’s
the bottom line. So-called Christian yoga has nothing in common with
authentic Christianity. In fact, the Bible warns:

For
ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them. (Eph 5:8-11)

Yoga
is being marketed to mainline churches with the assurance of creating
stress reduction, developing self-confidence, and improving concentration.
It is also marketed to business and industry, athletes, senior citizens,
students, teens and adolescents. Because of our fast paced life-style,
who wouldn't want to reduce stress? This is why yoga classes have become
so popular.

Now
here's the main reason Christians should avoid yoga. Christian apologists
John Ankerberg and John Weldon maintain that, "The basic premise
of yoga theory is the fundamental unity of all existence: God, man,
and all of creation are ultimately one divine reality." To explain
the basic premise, the authors quote from an editorial in the Yoga Journal:

"We
are all aware that yoga means 'union' and that the practice of yoga
unites body, breath, and mind, lower and higher energy centers and,
ultimately self and God, or higher Self. But more broadly, yoga directs
our attention to the unity or oneness that underlies our fragmented
experiences and equally fragmented world. Family, friends, the Druze
guerrilla in Lebanon, the great whale migrating north — all share
the same essential [divine] nature."

This
quote alone should raise concerns among Christians but when looked at
in light of Bible expositor John MacArthur’s comments extracted
from a CNN Primetime interview where he was asked “Should Christians
practice yoga,” it ought to be completely clear that Christians
should not participate:

John
MacArthur…wondered why Christians would want to "borrow a
term that is part of a false religion" (that clashes with historic
orthodox Christianity). MacArthur contends that Christians shouldn't
put themselves in weird physical positions, empty their minds, focus
on him or herself, and try to find the "god within" as a way
to relieve stress. "This is practicing a false religion,"
he said rather pointedly. Then he boldly shared the gospel. He said
in order to have a whole and complete life, Christians must go to the
Word of God, to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, "The idea of Christianity
is to fill your mind with biblical truth and focus on the God which
is above you."

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We
can be thankful that there are a few Christian leaders in America who
are willing to stand up for the truth.

In
conclusion, “Christian mysticism” has emerged from false
religious systems. But instead of fleeing from magical mystical practices,
scores of Christians have embraced them! The brethren must be warned
that Scripture strictly forbids uniting with pagans and apostates. Moreover,
those who profess Christ must be admonished not to participate in Contemplative
Prayer or any sort of mantra meditation for the reason that spiritual
harm can result from it.

Marsha
West is the Founder and Editor of Email
Brigade News Report, an online news service for conservative people
of faith. Marsha is a freelance writer whose main focus is on religious
and cultural issues. She is a regular contributor to NewsWithViews.com;
TheConservativevoice; RenewAmerica; Christianworldviewnetwork; Webcommentary
and other popular websites. Her writings have also appeared on WorldnetDaily;
Canadafreepress; AmericanDaily and several Christian periodicals.

Marsha loves
to write fiction for the younger generation. She is currently writing
a series of books about an average Christian family and the cultural issues
they face. Her books equip kids to defend their faith and live for Christ.